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Jen Talty

Dark Water

Synopsis

Lacy DeGeorgio never imagined she'd have to be responsible for anyone but herself. She's strong, stubborn and fiercely independent. She needs no one. She's a woman determined to do things her way, on her own. But when a freak boating accident takes her sister Hannah's life, Lacy finds herself not only back in her hometown of Lake George, New York, but in a custody battle for her eleven-year-old nephew, Andy. Just when things couldn't get any worse, pesky State Trooper Frank Harmon starts showing up, tearing down all her defenses, making her want things she's never wanted before. She'll trust him with her nephew, but can she trust him with her heart?
New York State Trooper Frank Harmon is a man of honor and duty. He's always done things by the book, believing the law always works in favor of those who uphold it. Until the day he took a domestic disturbance call at the DeGeorgio trailer, and even though he knew something bad was about to happen, he had to walk away. Two days later, he pulled Hannah DeGeorgio's body from the icy cold waters of Lake George, changing his life forever. He sets out to make sure Hannah's killer is brought to justice and in the process makes a home for a family he thought he never wanted.

Author Biography

Jen Talty co-created Cool Gus Publishing Publishing with NY Times Best-Selling Author Bob Mayer, and runs the technical side of the company. She is a published romance author, and teaches Creative Writing at various writing conferences across the country.
Jen grew up in Rochester, NY, a city with the highest murder rate per capita in the entire state. With notorious cases such as The Alphabet Murders, The Genesee River Killer (Arthur Shawcross), The Murder of Kali Ann Poulton by Mark Christi, and the case of funeral homes stealing body parts from corpses awaiting cremation, Jen became fascinated by the darker side of human nature. She brings this fascination to her romances, creating dark villains who wreak havoc on the hero and heroine, and producing page-turning suspense.

Author Insight

Sensitive Hunky Frank

After In Two Weeks was released I received fan mail asking when Frank's story was going to come out. I hadn't really thought too much about it, except Frank was a cute, young rookie and he added some lightness to the hero, Jared from In Two Weeks.
The more fan mail I got, the more I realized Frank needed his own story...enter Lacy.

Book Excerpt

Dark Water

Frank ran his hands up and down Lacy’s silky arms. With her face buried in his chest, his T-shirt muffled her soft cries. He got the impression she didn’t cry much, or let people in often, something Frank understood. Frank wasn’t sure he’d ever cried, except for that fateful afternoon when he’d pulled Hannah’s body from the cold waters of Lake George.

Lacy’s body pressed into his and he could feel her heart hammer against his chest. She wrapped her arms tight around his waist. He wanted to tell her what he knew, what he suspected. “I want to help,” he whispered against her temple, feeling the slight tremble in her body. He liked holding her.

She stepped back from him and wiped her face. Her soft hair flowed in the breeze as the first few drops of rain began to fall. “Why?” She stared at him, adjusting her hair and acting as if she hadn’t just fallen apart in his arms. “Why would you want to do that?”

“Hannah.”

“You didn’t even know her,” she said suspiciously.

The wind swirled. Tree branches flapped and snapped in the gusting wind. “We should go inside.” It wasn’t just the weather he wanted cover from. How long could he continue to lie to her?

Lacy pushed her hand hard against his chest. “Did you know my sister?”

Yeah, I knew her. She’s dead because I couldn’t do anything to help her. “No.” He tried to rid his mind of the memories of the dark water surrounding him. Being a part of the Scuba Squad had been a dream come true. His dream when he’d joined the New York State Police Department and now he couldn’t even go under without panicking.

He’d seen his share of dead bodies over the years. It was all a part of the training. But no one could prepare you for the first time you found a young woman’s body tangled in seaweed at the bottom of the lake. Her eyes open, still full of fear. Her skin pale, almost ghostly. Her mouth gaping open, as if to scream. The vision still haunted his dreams.

“I…I—”

“Hey, Lacy?” Andy called. “I’m hungry, when are we going to eat.”

The sound of Andy’s voice snapped him out of the darkness that had begun to take over. Thunder rolled at the same time the lightning lit up the sky and the rain fell like a watering hose, drenching them in seconds. Frank took her hand and yanked her under the tarp. “Wow.” His feet already squished in his shoes. “I think we just got an inch in a matter of seconds.”

“Doesn’t help my stomach,” Andy said. “I’m starved. Can I have two burgers?”

“Sure,” she said glancing at Frank. “You’re welcome to stay. It’s not much, but I can guarantee it will be good.”

“I’d love to. Besides, I still have one more thing for Andy.” Frank smiled, looking at the rain coming down. “I think you’ll have to wait, kid. Not going to my truck in this.”